CO129-350 - Public Offices - 1908 — Page 381

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rate of exchange; that a reduction of the

cost of imported articles was presumably

373

only a matter of time, if exchange continued

to rule high; and that the salaries of

Government Officers in Hong Kong compared

favourably with those obtaining in most

other parts of the Empire.

14.

Further experience, however, ap-

peared to shew that the prices even of im-

ported articles showed no tendency to fall;

that the prices of articles produced locally

were not affected by the higher sterling

value of the dollar; and that, apart from any

question of exchange, the cost of living was

still on the increase.

1g. In these circumstances, the Secre-

tary of State on the recommendation of the

Governor and with the approval of the Legis-

lative Council of the Colony consented to an

arrangement to take effect from January 1st

1907, under which when the dollar rage above

2/- salaries were to be paid as if it had

remained